President Donald Trump has weighed in on a horse racing scandal at the Kentucky Derby, after Twitter complained that a decision granting victory to a second-placed horse had a lot in common with the 2016 election. Really.
“The Kentucky Derby decision was not a good one,” Trump tweeted on Sunday. “It was a rough and tumble race on a wet and sloppy track, actually, a beautiful thing to watch. Only in these days of political correctness could such an overturn occur. The best horse did NOT win the Kentucky Derby – not even close!”
Although described by the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson as “decadent and depraved,” the Kentucky Derby has not, until now, been a target for politicization. That all changed on Sunday when Maximum Security, the winner of the Derby, was disqualified, and Country House, a 65-1 long shot, was awarded victory.
Maximum Security, race officials said, had unfairly impeded other horses and as a result became the first to be disqualified in the event’s 145-year history.
Twitter being Twitter, it didn’t take long for commenters to make the issue all about Donald Trump. Country House won the race despite coming second, they argued, much like Trump won the 2016 election despite losing the overall popular vote.
Country House’s distinctly orange coloring only furthered their argument.
As Twitter bickered, the owners of the racetrack – Louisville’s Churchill Downs – laughed all the way to the bank. Although horse racing is declining in popularity across America, Derby day still nets the track roughly $180 million every year, while bookmakers took in a whopping $228 million last year.
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